Filner seeks to keep Frye on

Mayor Bob Filner said he expects to ask the City Council to amend the municipal code sometime in the next couple weeks to allow former Councilwoman Donna Frye to remain a member of his administration.

Filner hired Frye as his director of open government, but her retirement from the city in 2010 means she can’t be rehired as a full-time employee under the city’s current rules. The lone exception is if she were to become an elected official again.

Frye, whose annualized salary is $100,000, is currently working as a provisional employee which means she receives pay but no benefits, such as health care or vacation. As a provisional worker, she can only work up to 90 days a year.

That’s what Filner wants to change. He said the municipal code should be amended to allow former council members to work more than 90 days, perhaps as many as 300 days.

“For ex-elected officials, we want to define provisional as, say, 300 days a year,” Filner said in an interview. “But what provisional means is no double-dipping. No benefits. No pension. No health benefits. So what we essentially want to do is confine it to a very small class of people. I don’t know if there’s anybody else in the class. Ex-City Council people. Not ex-mayors and not ex-city attorneys. So nobody feels we have a conflict here as we’re doing it.”

Frye, who collects an annual pension of $31,670 from the city, is nearing the end of her 90-day provisional period. Assuming she’s only taken weekends and holidays off, she’ll reach the cap sometime in early April. Action by the City Council will be required if she is to stay on.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has previously opined that San Diego’s retirement plan doesn’t make an exception for retired elected officials who want to work as full-time city employees. They can only service in an unpaid position or as a provisional employee.

Frye’s current service as a provisional worker can’t be used to enhance the pension she’s already receiving.